Lions run past Illinois 35-17

Penn State found its offensive line this week, much to the chagrin of the Illinois Fighting Illini. Coming off a very disappointing home loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes, Penn State started out slowly in Champaign, but was able to roll in the second half to 28-3 and 35-10 leads. The win keeps the Nittany Lions' Big Ten title hopes alive, while Illinois sinks to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten.

Penn State rushed for more than 300 yards, including the first pair of 100-yard rushers in a game since 2005, and quarterback Daryll Clark adding 82 yards on the ground. It was easily the Lions' best performance of the season, just in time for a tough second half of the season, with dates against Minnesota, Ohio State and Indiana, and trips to Michigan, Northwestern and Michigan State.

After struggling for weeks to get the ground game going, much of the heat coming down on the offensive line, Penn State looked like it would continue to struggle against Illinois, as neither team could get their offenses rolling. But Stephfon Green's 52-yard touchdown run up the middle gave the Lions a huge spark in the second quarter. And although the fire took a little longer to spread to the rest of the offense, the scoring jaunt gave Penn State some much needed confidence going into halftime.

On the day, Penn State put together drives of 80, 69, 79, and 80 yards, all ending in touchdowns. Penn State was perfect in the red zone.

While not dominant on the scoreboard, leading just 7-3, Penn State used suffocating defense and a relentless offense to hold the ball for 12 minutes in the third quarter, and out-gaining Illinois by more than 100 yards in the period.

The Lions would score early in the fourth quarter, extending their lead to 18, and essentially breaking the Illini spirit. Penn State would score 21 points in the final stanza, the strongest finish to a game this season for the Lions.

Clark finished an efficient 17 of 25, for 175 yards. He was held without a passing touchdown, but was not sacked once. Clark was one of four Lions to reach the end zone, leading with two scores. Evan Royster, Brent Carter and Green each scored, with Carter's 11-yard run sealing the win for Penn State midway through the fourth.

Penn State's defense, like the offense, began to dominate Illinois after halftime. The unit finished with seven stops behind the line of scrimmage, including three sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery that led to the Lions' final touchdown.

But Illinois came into the game ready to fight, and was able to keep the Lions' attack contained early. The Illini offense also put a scare into Penn State's defense, as Juice Williams was able to connect on some key throws, and keep the chains moving with his feet.

Before hafltime, Illinois was pinned in the shadow of its own goal posts, starting a drive at the one. Williams took advantage of a soft Penn State defensive coverage scheme, taking his team down inside Lions territory. A score of some sort seemed certain, but timely pressure by Penn State sacked Williams, then forced an intentional grounding call, ending the Illini threat.

In the losing effort, however, Williams became Illinois' all-time leading quarterback, passing Kurt Kitner for the top spot for total career yards.

Penn State will host FCS opponent Eastern Illinois next week, before finishing out the Big Ten schedule. Illinois will face Michigan State.

Tomorrow: Unit-by-Unit game breakdown and review.